Rivoli Theatre

I think it was a combination of both. Remember in those days, “The Sound of Music” was the most popular movie in the world. In several other major cities in Canada in ran for months or years, when others hadn’t. “My Fair Lady” ran 60 weeks at the University and then moved over to the Nortown. Many of these “roadshows” were film versions of popular Broadway musicals or spectacular epics like “Ben Hur” or “Cleopatra”. They were promoted weeks before they opened on these special Reserved seat/roadshow engagements and since in those days were only at one theatre in the area were very popular. In the late 60s there were so many roadshows around that other theatres that never had that policy before suddenly found themselves showing reserved seat movies. I remember in Toronto, the Capitol had “The Sandpebbles” and later “The Lion in Winter”, the Vaughn had “The Bible” which was it’s only roadshow film and even the Odeon Danforth had the move over of “Oliver!” and then “The Taming of the Shrew”. These films always had big ads in the papers “announcing” the premiere and when tickets would go on sale. I think one of the last of these was “The Man of La Mancha” at the University in ‘72 which didn’t last very long. I miss that kind of distribution when these big movies would run for months and then come back at “Popular Prices” weeks or months later at all of the neighbourhood theatres around the city. Those were the good old days.

Tim you’ve given us a wonderful mini history of roadshows in Toronto.
I guess today as everywhere it is a very different city. Wish I could have known it then.

Sound of Music at the Rivoli might have beat out 80 Days if the management had anything to do with it. Fox pulled it to get the prestige booking for Sand Pebbles when the Riv wanted to hold onto SOM. They wanted to keep it so badly that they ended up suing Fox over the matter. Who knows it might have lasted another 3 months until Easter of ‘67.

Seeing that photo of “The Sound of Music” playing brought back wonderful memories for me of when it played at the beautiful Eglinton theatre here in Toronto. It played there for 144 weeks from March 10 ‘65 until Dec 20 '67 when it was replaced by “Doctor Dolittle”. It then moved to the Crest (now Regent) and played another 9 weeks there although not with reserved seats. I used to love when roadshows would play at the University, Eglinton, Odeon Fairlawn and they would used those glass marquees with the film’s stylized writing on since they usually ran for months. The old Tivoli downtown which had several major reserved seat roadshows in the late 50’s, early 60’s would also use those specialized marquees. Toronto had many long runs in those days. “Funny Girl” played 68 weeks at the Odeon Fairlawn and “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” ran 50. The Tivoli had long runs of “Oklahoma”, “Around the World in 80 Days”, “South Pacific” and “The King and I”, all of them running 52 weeks or more. “Ben Hur” ran 77 weeks at the University and “2001: A Space Odyssey” ran about 130 some odd weeks at the Glendale Cinerama. I miss those days. Those really were “events”.

Being an east coast boy this is the first I am even hearing of the Fox Rosemary. I would love to know however what happened to the D 150 and Todd AO shorts which were created to show off these systems. What eyepopping time capsules these must be. Perhaps Mike Todd’s son would know? And how I wish he would spearhead a campaign to restore 80 Days to its original splendor and equip perhaps a Broadway theater to play it.(Much in the same way The Broadway theater was used for This is Cinerama and the Royale was used for the roadshow Gigi.)

I think it was during early to mid 60’s timeframe. I’m not at home right now so I would have to look at the paperwork. The Fox Rosemary Theatre was not a public theatre during that time.

The people used the old Fox Rosemary Theatre in the Ocean Park area of Santa Monica, California for demos of the D-150 process.

Installing D-150 usually involved extensive remodeling of the auditorium, with loss of seating to make room for the screen. The largest screen together with their masking and curtains, took up 40 feet of the depth of the auditorium. The Criterion Theatre would have had to do a major remodel for the screen. And by the time that “Patton” opened mainly UA opened those types of theatres in the US. “Patton” play many of its many engagements in regular 70MM 6-Track Stereo sound. The director was not to happy about that as stories go.

On that list from “The International Cinerama Society” about D-150 installs. I saw that list, they listed that theatre like this the
UA Lefrak City, LI. I had to ask a few people about the LI, since I’m from the west coast.

The October 10th date was the re-premiere at the Rivoli.

Don’t know the exact date, but by the time the 70mm reissue of GWTW opened, it had been installed. this was in the Fall of 1967.

“Robert do you remember if the Rivoli utilized its curved screen for this engagement?"
It most certainly did. Not the later D-150 screen, mind you, but the original Todd-AO one.

I was lucky enough to have seen SOM here as a child with my parents and two grandmothers. I still have the program.

Nice picture. The Rivoli and other movie palaces had elaborate
custom made displays in that era since major motion pictures were
marketed to the public as ‘events’. This continued to exist on some level through the eighties, at least in the theaters that played 70mm
but died off in the nineties. This type of presentation and display is rare today although there are some theaters that still ‘put on a show’ like the Lafayette in Suffern, New York.

That’s the problem with movie palace afficianados. It doesn't
work without the participation of the distributors and most of them
consider theatrical exhibition as ‘paid advertising’ for the home
video markets.

Sounds like what later happened at “Bloody Peekskill” with Paul
Robeson when he got up on stage at the Paramount theater in Peekskill
and swore allegance to Joseph Stalin. A riot ensued. Robeson later wrote the eulogy for the dictator.

The 1930’s is sometimes referred to as “The Red Decade” since the CPSUA was very active politically in the U.S. instigating labor unrest, riots and espionage. The Party increased it’s memership in Hollywood at the time but lost a great deal of it during the Hitler/Stalin pact. Afterwards, a Popular Front was created with CPUSA members and their political opponents (conservative, moderates and many liberals) until the war was over. After World War II, this Popular Front collapsed and the CPUSA commenced labor terrorism in Hollywood with violent strikes at the major film studios and Technicolor. Industry personnel were beaten and intimidated. Cars were blown up outside studio gates. Opposing union leaders had their houses firebombed. The CPUSA threatened to pour acid on then SAG president, Ronald Reagan, if he opposed them. Reagan had to hire body guards to protect his family. The CPUSA also threatened to blow up the nitrate negatives at Technicolor. David Selznick had to delay the release of one of his movies because he couldn’t get his nitrate prints past the strikers. These incidents are what caused HUAC to investigate the film industry in 1948 and 1951. Of course, the blacklist followed against those directly involved (i.e. Herb Sorrell of the CSU) along with ex-party members like Larry Parks who were no longer involved with the CPUSA.